Aurora postal patrons surveyed on office

Posted: Monday, Dec 31st, 2012By John Kubal, The Brookings Register

Aurora Postmaster Linda Friedrich cancels the stamps on a USPS package on Friday afternoon.
/ JAurora resident Larry Eachen checks the contents of his P.O. box in the Aurora Post Office on Friday afternoon. Like many Aurora residents, he would prefer that the post office remain open, even with reduced hours. He said, "We need it over here. Part time, OK; but don't close it."
Photos by John Kubal/Register

• Many residents want local P.O. to stay open

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

While the United States Postal Service claims no official logo, those are the lines inscribed on the James Farley Post Office in New York City. It went on to become the sort of mission statement of the men and women in the light blue uniforms who continue to deliver what some in the age of whiz-bang, speed-of-light communications call "snail mail."

What the USPS delivers nationwide is a service many people don't want to go away, especially in the many small-town post offices that dot the nation. But it has to change, residents in many Brookings area communities – most recently Aurora – are finding out.